^{January 15, 2019} MYR Group Subsidiary Hosts High School Students at Electrical Trade Open House

STURGEON ELECTRIC CREATES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO HELP ALLEVIATE LABOR SHORTAGE BY INTRODUCING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO CAREER PATHS IN CONSTRUCTION

The construction industry faces major challenges thanks to a widespread shortage of skilled labor and MYR Group Inc. (MYR Group) subsidiaries and electricians’ unions alike are experiencing difficulties in drawing younger generations into the trades.

However, in Henderson, Colo., one MYR Group subsidiary – Sturgeon Electric Company, Inc. (Sturgeon Electric) is tackling the issue by teaming with Colorado Construction Careers (CCC), a joint project between the State of Colorado, Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council, and the Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Alliance of Colorado Contractors.

Through this partnership, the company is opening its doors to include local high-school kids who are close to graduating. The new program expands Sturgeon Electric’s existing program to introduce college students to career opportunities in the electrical trade.

“We’ve hosted open houses and college outreach effort in the past, with some good success but we want to connect with the high school market as well,’ said Dan Hart, general foreman for Sturgeon Electric. “We bring them in to tour our headquarters and fabrication shop and give them a little taste of the trade and a sense of the opportunities for rapid career advancement.

“It’s a really proactive way of not only drawing tomorrow’s young electricians to the trade, but also it shows them how fun and rewarding working here at Sturgeon can be.”

During a recent open house, high-schoolers tried a variety of activities — welding, threading GRC conduit, cutting steel with a well saw, bending large pipe, and building power cable assemblies. Dan, along with Haylee Radeke and Henderson’s manufacturing and labor resources teams, provided lunch and a presentation that featured a variety of guest speakers who shared why the enjoy working in the electrical industry.

The event was a success and Hart and his team of volunteers are looking forward to building upon the new program.

“We are going to keep staying engaged with CCC and the local high schools to access communication with their building trade students,” Hart said. “We’ve already been invited to sit in on classes at Prairie View High School in the future and interact with the students.”